#industrialtrust

[billpichette]

Industrial Trust Building, now empty and unlit-two views from Westminster Street and details

[billpichette]

Maybe You Know Some Little Places to Go

When you've got worries all the noise and the hurry Seems to help I know, downtown - Downtown, written by Tony Hatch

9/29/2014 – Visiting Rhode Island, one of the things I have come to appreciate is a walk around the old downtown, the city center of Providence. Growing up on a hill overlooking the city, I looked on the only true classic skyscraper in the city, the former Industrial Trust building. When we got a rare chance to go shopping downtown, the old classic outdoor “mall” of Westminster Street beckoned, with classic department stores like Shepard’s and Cherry&Webb We felt guilty just walking by and gawking at all the expensive pieces at Tilden-Thurber, a high end china and jewelry shop. One thing I didn’t notice as a kid was the buildings themselves-their architectural detail and features. Covering all of the old city center and its historic buildings would take more time than I had left here, so I decided to focus on Westminster Street, gawking once again like the boy who was never going to buy anything from Tilden-Thurber, but equally awed by the preservation of these buildings and their architectural details by public and private organizations.

The street ends-or begins-at its intersection with Weybosset Street in the financial district. The star of the show has to be the Turk’s Head. The building, completed in 1916, is V-shaped-the classic flatiron-and was the tallest building downtown at the time. The stone figure is a replica of a wooden one found on Jacob Whitman’s house and business in the 1750’s, meant to help his shop stand out. The original was from the merchant ship Sultan.

The Industrial Trust (Fleet/Bank of America) Building is an icon and its stories could fill pages. Probably the most interesting one of the 1928 skyscraper is that while under construction, workers would fish in the water flowing into the bottom of the structure. I have seen a picture of them with poles, but not one of any fish. The sad story is that the building is now empty and in disrepair.

There are a few bookstores and boutique shops adding to the mix and preserving the street’s retail heritage, but diverse organizations such as Johnson and Wales University, luxury condos, law firms, and the state archives have saved the old outdoor mall buildings. It was great to see occupied properties where once were the vacant remnants of a century old, vibrant and fun business hub.